Stagecoach wins top coach industry award

24 Apr 2015

East Scotland city connect network named Top Express Operation

Stagecoach has been recognised with a top honour at the 2015 UK Coach Awards.

The transport group’s East Scotland business was awarded the Express Operation of the Year accolade at the 6th annual event held in Manchester last night (Thursday 23 April) after impressing judges with its Express City Connect network which operates across central Scotland.

Stagecoach’s Oxford Tube service, which operates between Oxford and London, was runner-up in the same category.

Stagecoach East Scotland’s Express City Connect network operates high-quality coach services across Fife and into Edinburgh, Perth, Dundee, Aberdeen and Glasgow. Facilities such as leather seats, on board toilets, power sockets, air conditioning and free wifi have helped make the services an attractive alternative to the car, achieving increased passenger numbers.

The network offers a high standard of customer service. Staff are available at all connecting bus stations in Fife, Dundee and Edinburgh to provide information and assistance for passengers. Around 310 drivers are involved in the delivery of the services.

Following a total investment of £8.9m in the past 5 years, high specification coaches now operate on all the Express City Connect networks between Fife, Dundee, Perth, Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Last year a real-time information system was launched in conjunction with south east Scotland transport partnership SESTran, to provide accurate travel data on all services operating between Fife and Edinburgh.

Stagecoach East Scotland Managing Director Andrew Jarvis said: “It’s fantastic to win this award, which is testament to the hard work of our employees who are at the forefront of delivering these services to our customers all year round.

“We now carry more than 4.2million passengers a year on our Express City Connect network and by investing in new vehicles, with free wi-fi, and delivering excellent customer service, we look forward to attracting even more people on to our greener, smarter coach services in the future.”

The UK Coach Awards recognises the dedication and professionalism of individuals and operators across the UK coach industry, with awards covering 16 categories.

At the 2014 UK Coach Awards, Stagecoach’s megabusGold.com sleeper coach service won the Technology and Innovation award, while the company’s megabus.com operations scooped the Gold Coach Marketing Award.